Media Release

Mangaluru, Nov 15: The departments of Botany and Chemistry, St Agnes College (Autonomous) organized a one-day workshop on Hydroponics on November 14 for the BSc students with Botany/Chemistry major in the chemistry laboratory.

The main objective of the workshop was to encourage non-conventional methods of cultivation to adapt to the changing environmental conditions. This was enforced by the principal Sr Dr M Jeswina AC who urged the students to grow plants in the college campus using the techniques learnt in the workshop.

The seminar was presided over by Guruprasad Kurtkoti, founder and chief of Belesiri, who has trained more than 300 students in less than 18 months on scientific farming techniques. He spoke about many advantages as well as the challenges that accompany the field of hydroponics. Hydroponics refers to soil-less cultivation and is a method of the future that is adopted by many countries in order to obtain healthier plants and a better yield.

The theoretical explanations were followed by practical demonstrations to help the students to better understand the processes involved in this technique and get a hands on experience. The students received a lot of tips to help them grow plants using this method in an easy and economical way.

The interactive session was attended by 45 students and ended with some steps on how to start with hydroponics on a small scale and then advance to production at a commercial scale.

Helen Serrao introduced Guruprasad, Froidy Fernandes proposed the vote of thanks and Manasa of second year BSc compered the workshop.